Soda Brand and Tooth Health

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question370.htm

Broad Question

Which Liquid will have the worst effect on Tooth Heath the most ?

Specific Question

Which Liquid ( Coke, Diet Coke, Mountain Dew or Water ) will have the worst effect on Teeth?

Variables

Independent Variable:

Soda Type

Dependent Variable:

Mass (g)

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Which Bone goes to which Liquid
The Time Each Bone is in the soda so they are all equal
The Right Weight recorded to the right Bone

Hypothesis

I Hypothesize that every Liquid will have some negative effect on the bones, but Coke will have the worst effect on the your teeth, followed by Diet Coke, Mountain Dew, Then Water.

Graph of Hypothesis

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Experimental Design

My experiment will determine which variety of soda will have the worst effect on the health of a person’s teeth. I will be conducting my experiment at home and no other people will be involved. Each type of soda will have two separate trials in order to form a reliable conclusion. The data I collect will be recorded on a piece of paper and then copied onto a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will be printed out and displayed on my poster. In order to examine how much teeth are effected by drinking soda, I will soak bones in soda for a period of one week. I’ll measure the mass of the bones prior to conducting the experiment. I will then measure the mass every day after, for one week in order to see how much the bones decay I will include Pictures on the experiment to prove that I actually did the test.

Materials List
1. 8 plastic cups
2. Pencil
3. Paper
4. 2 cans of Diet Coke
5. 2 cans of Coke
6. 2 cans of Mountain Dew
7. Water
8. Measuring Cup
9. Bones
10. Scale
11. Tape
12. Camera

Detailed Procedure

1.Gather Materials
2.Measure ½ a cup of each soda and pour into a cup
3.Repeat so each liquid has two trials.
4.Measure the mass of unsoaked bones on the scale.
5.Record data
6.Use Tweezers to remove bones form liquid.
7.Make a label for each bone of which liquid it belongs in.
8.Take a picture of the bones before soaking
9.Place bones in liquid.
10.Return next day, and take each bone out of liquid.
11.Measure and record mass.
12.Return daily for the next week, and repeat steps 8 and 9.
13.On the last day take a picture of each bone to see the decay.
14.Print pictures and include on poster.
15.Input data into computer that was collected on a spreadsheet.

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Background Research

In Studies Root Beer is the least acidic of all soft drinks with a pH of 4.038.
Plaque builds up on teeth and if not brushed regularly once it starts to accumulate it is hard to get rid of because the bacteria in plaque produce a sticky “glue” and if not removed plaque can lead to tooth decay.
Even though people know of sodas harm full effects the number of soda is dramatically increasing especially with teens and kids.
Drinks with a pH below 5.0-5.7 have been know to trigger acid erosion effects.

References

"Acids in Popular Sodas Erode Tooth Enamel." Acids in Popular Sodas Erode Tooth Enamel. TechMediaNetwork.com, Web. 18 Jan. 2012. <http://www.livescience.com/7198-acids-popular-sodas-erode-tooth-enamel.html>.

Richard, Walker. e.guides Human Body. New York, NY: DK Publishing Inc.,, 2005. Print.

"Soda or Pop? It's Teeth Trouble by Any Name." Soda or Pop? It's Teeth Trouble by Any Name. Colgate.com, Web. 19 Jan. 2012.


Soft Drinks are hard on teeth . Columbia News service, 2007. Web. 20 Jan. 2012.

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Results

Data Table

Graphs

Photos

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Data Analysis

Conclusion

The original purpose of this experiment was to see which soda brand will have the worst effect on teeth. Bones soaked for five days in the following liquids; Coke, Diet Coke, Mountain Dew, and water. The results were not completely accurate. It was not taken into account that the bones would absorb the liquids, therefore the bones did not lose mass. The mass stayed the same or went up by a small amount. For Example...the mass of the Bone in Diet Coke when we started was 25g and moved up to 27g.

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Discussion

My hypothesis was that Diet Coke was going to have the worst effect on teeth, followed by Coke, Mountain Dew, and water. My results did not support my hypothesis because I did not take into account that the bones would absorb the liquids. There is no relationship between my independent and dependent variables. Some patterns and trends in my data are, That mass did not change or it went up a small amount. I think the tests I did went smoothly with minor problems, if I had taken the Bones absorbing the liquid into account, it could have gone a lot smoother. If I could improve the experiment, I would get a scale that could measure small differences. I would also let the bones sit out so they could dry. An interesting future study might involve, which soda will discolor teeth the worst